I had a fantastic time graphic recording for the Professional Employees Association 2013 Renewal conference a couple weeks ago. The engaging speakers and passionate audience made for a great session — everyone had something to add, especially during the exercises on  Renewal. The energy in the room really kept me on my toes! (Check out the Prezi above that walks through the graphics.)

Graphic recording constantly introduces me to different industries and professions — the beauty of my work is that I get to delve head first into conferences and really get to know what’s driving organizations and the successes or challenges they are facing.

Whether it’s patient journey mapping for families struggling with substance use, or capturing the discussion around tax reform, or helping two different organizations in a BC town see common ground… it’s surprising how often there are common threads between seemingly unconnected industries. Having this “big picture” view really helps me move quickly with discussions and understand different points of view.

But the really rewarding part? Seeing people’s faces light up when they review the graphics; having people interact with the graphics and ask me to add a drawing of something that really stood out to them during the meeting. That’s the power of graphic recording: the meeting becomes something tangible and real. Something that everyone can contribute to.

Dr. Brent Mainprize from the University of Victoria’s Peter B. Gustavson School of Business got in touch with me in early March to help develop a video showcasing a new program for Aboriginal entrepreneurs in North Western BC. The turnaround time was tight, but we put our heads together and wrote a script, constructed a concise story board, and ultimately produced a video that emphasizes the core principles and value of the program.

To date, this is the longest video I’ve put together. But if this were a standard 2:00-3:00 min. video, it wouldn’t provide prospective students with a comprehensive understanding of the program.

It’s fantastic that the Peter B. Gustavson School of Business has developed such a unique program, and I’m excited to contribute to its promotion — check out www.nwace.ca for more info!

Scott Phillips provided an inspiring interview with Heather Ferguson of Whale Communications during Episode 2 of the Sonar Moment series. His remarks about entrepreneurs needing to have a big vision but also understand how to operate rang true for me. Entrepreneurs are also great at jumping in with two feet and not letting risks stop them!

Check out the interview and share your thoughts! We all have a little entrepreneur inside of us.

Many people assume that graphic recorders are artists who create beautiful murals. Some of us are, and our style of graphic recording reflects that. But many business and government clients are looking for a balance between visuals and content.

Having too many artistic visuals in a graphic recording can leave out the “meat” of the discussion and be off-putting to people who are more “left-brained” and looking for content. Likewise, a wall of text is overwhelming and not engaging — our minds don’t process it as quickly as visuals.

For example, infographics lay out information visually so that it’s easy to interpret and engaging. Graphic recordings are essentially life-sized infographics created in real time. It’s crucial to find the balance between visuals and content while making smart choices about white space and layout. There’s no value if a graphic recording is cluttered and and you don’t know where to start reading. People to who weren’t at the meeting should be able to read and make sense of the charts.

Arrows direct the flow of information.

The same balance of visuals vs. content can be applied to presentations, Power Points, and reports. Even contracts and legal documents can benefit from visual elements… and it doesn’t have to be huge images or artwork — a subtle border, bold headings in a different hue, and a few appropriate images go a long way to keeping a reader’s eye moving.

Have you thought about the balance between visuals and content in your documents and presentations?

I’m thrilled to collaborate with Heather Ferguson of Whale Communications on a series of interviews with CEOs from the lower mainland and Vancouver Island. This is the graphic recording from the first interview with Sage Baker CEO of Q5 Innovations. Truly inspiring! Keep watching Sonar Moment on Whale Communications for more interviews!

I recently collaborated with the lovely Della Smith, principal at Q Workshops, to create a  hand drawn video profiling her unique facilitation style.

Hand drawn videos explain complex concepts simply and quickly. Watching the drawings unfold is mesmerizing and keeps viewers engaged; much better than your standard Power Point or animated video!

Hand drawn videos are great for:

• broadcasting new ways of working to staff (policies, IT systems, etc.)
• public awareness campaigns
• explaining unique services
• keeping viewers engaged (and possibly entertained!)

I enjoy working closely with clients to achieve their vision — it’s important the video conveys the right tone and message. Sometimes this means re-filming segments if they’re not quite right! A big white board, plenty of studio lighting, and a Nikon d7000 helps things run smoothly.

Oh, and a stubborn attention to detail!

I attended a recent Social Media workshop where author and entrepreneur, Jason Miles, gave a presentation on the power of Pinterest. He pointed out that above all else, “videos and images have the longest ‘half-life’ of all forms of communication.” I was struck by how obvious this is.

Twitter is an endless conversation stacking on top of itself – your tweets are quickly buried within an hour, sometimes within minutes. The same goes for Facebook status updates.

Blogposts are only as fresh as the date they were created – and so much effort goes into a well-written post!

However, great videos will continue to accumulate views on YouTube years after they were posted. Likewise, images can be shared, liked, and ‘re-pinned’ long after their original posting. The decay rate of visuals is much slower than text based communication.

Instead of wasting time with text-based news releases, an organization will have greater impact if it sends out an infographic, video, or an eye-catching photograph. Humans process visual information in a fraction of the time it takes to read text. This is also why graphic recording is such a powerful tool during meetings.

Is your organization using visuals? Have you noticed a difference in the effectiveness? Check out my illustrated videos and graphic recordings for inspiration!

Many organizations get locked into one way of doing business and it never changes year to year, despite advances in technology or changes in customer needs. It’s important for an organization to map out their process of providing service to customers and identify any road blocks or bottlenecks along the way. This leads to improved efficiency and cost savings.

A fictional Patient Journey Map for COPD.

Journey mapping is used in a variety of industries, including healthcare. Patient Journey Mapping brings together physicians, health professionals, and patients for a day-long session of mapping the patient experience. The focus is the patient and plotting their healthcare path through diagnosis, treatment, discharge home, and back again. As the patient journey is mapped, gaps in care are identified and wait times highlighted.

Graphic recording the journey ensures clear communication, especially when dealing with highly complex processes and with many people providing input. Creating a visual map is crucial in maintaining the group’s focus in order to thoroughly map the journey. It’s also important that patients feel they can express their personal stories in a safe environment where their voice is being heard. Graphic recording helps ensure patients feel validated by seeing their words displayed clearly through images. Graphic recording also captures the tone of what’s being said (or not said!).

Once the mapping is complete, it’s easy to send the digital version of the map to other health professionals during the validation process to ensure nothing has been missed.

I’ve worked in healthcare in a variety of departments: Mental Health & Addictions, System Wide Integration, and Public Participation, to name a few. This has given me a perspective on frontline work with patients as well as big-picture strategic initiatives. I’ve come to appreciate how important our healthcare system is and how it needs to evolve with our rapidly changing digital age. But healthcare is such a large beast – how do we make sustainable changes that improve patient lives?

The ReCivilization series on CBC Radio discussed Collaborative Healthcare and the different ways it’s changing the system. Above is the graphic recording I created during this talk. Check out the audio here:

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Ideas/ID/2261108873/

Prehistoric Man: the first Graphic Recorders

The Lascaux cave paintings (est. 17,000 years old) are the first example of visuals being used to convey a story. These simple images etched into a stone wall are the seeds of human communication.

Even more fascinating is the recent discovery that the cave art at Lascaux appears to move in the flicker of firelight. The legs on bison gallop; the heads on cattle dip up and down; the hunter throws his spear. Not only were they the first graphic recorders, but they were also the first film makers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=x8exsw6yKXw#t=45s

Egyptians, Phoenicians, and the Greeks

If we move forward a few thousand years to the Egyptians we encounter the beginnings of written language. At first, pictorials were used to convey meaning, which is known as hieroglyphs. The head of an ox was used to represent an ox:

When the Phoenicians came along a few thousand years later, they adopted the word ox, or “aleph,” as the first symbol of their alphabet. Since trading and transactions were recorded, they needed to write the symbol quickly:

As time progressed, the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet and the symbol was rotated and came to represent a vowel, also known as “alpha.” Even our written word has its origins in pictorials and illustration.

Paintings

Moving further through time, images have been vital in conveying stories to the illiterate. Take for example elaborate Medieval paintings and tapestries that serve to communicate Biblical stories to the general population, most of whom couldn’t read.

Think of the power people must have felt when entering the Sistine Chapel and seeing the angels high above their heads. Images are the most immediate way to grab attention and convey a message; they cross all language barriers. No wonder the church used imagery so extensively.

Today

Graphic Recording officially got its start in the 1970s and 80s as an innovative way to engage people during meetings. When Apple computers was struggling to determine a way forward in the 1980s, they enlisted graphic recorder David Sibbet during a company retreat to help map out their vision. (Graphic Recording takes full credit for Apple’s success)

Everywhere we look, visual design and symbols have increasing importance – especially as the pace of information sharing increases. Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, Imgur, iPads, and smart phones are all image-centric ways of communicating.

Even though Graphic Recording is considered a new way to engage and communicate, it has actually been around for millennia. Capturing words and ideas and transforming them into images is what we’ve been doing since we were able to raise charcoal stick to cave wall.